[Federal Register: February 3, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 21)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 5908-5910]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03fe09-5]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[FWS-R9-IA-2008-0123; 96100-1671-0000-B6]
RIN 1018-AI83
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Petition To
Reclassify the Wood Bison From Endangered to Threatened
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding and initiation of status
review.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce our
90-day finding on a petition to reclassify the wood bison (Bison bison
athabascae) from endangered to threatened throughout its range in the
List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife established under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). We find that the petition presents substantial scientific and
commercial information indicating that the petitioned action of
reclassifying the wood bison from endangered to threatened status under
the Act may be warranted. Therefore, we are initiating a status review
of the wood bison to determine if reclassification, as petitioned, is
warranted under the Act. To ensure that the status review is
comprehensive, we are requesting submission of any new information on
the wood bison since its original listing as endangered throughout its
entire range under the predecessor of the Act on June 2, 1970 (35 FR
8491). At the conclusion of our status review, we will issue a 12-month
finding on the petition, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.
DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on January 14,
2009. To be considered in the 12-month finding on this petition, we
will accept comments and information from all interested parties until
April 6, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit information, materials, and comments by one
of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing,
Attn: FWS-R9-IA-2008-0123; Division of Policy and Directives
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive;
Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203.
We will not accept e-mail or faxes. We will post all comments on
http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us (see the Public Comments section
below for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rosemarie Gnam, Ph.D., Chief, Division
of Scientific Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N.
Fairfax Drive, Room 110, Arlington, VA 22203; telephone 703-358-1708;
facsimile 703-358-2276; electronic mail ScientificAuthority@fws.gov.
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call
the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Information Solicited
We intend that any final action resulting from this status review
will be as accurate and as effective as possible based on the best
available scientific and commercial information. Therefore, we solicit
information, comments, or suggestions on the wood bison from the
public, concerned government agencies, the scientific community, or any
other interested party. We are opening a 60-day public comment period
to allow all interested parties an opportunity to provide information
on the status of the
[[Page 5909]]
wood bison throughout its range, including:
(1) Information on taxonomy, distribution, habitat selection and
use, food habits, population density and trends, habitat trends,
disease, and effects of management on wood bison;
(2) Information on captive herds, including efficacy of breeding
and reintroduction programs, origin of parental stock, stock
supplementation for genetic purposes, growth rates, birth and mortality
rates in captivity; location of captive herds in comparison to wild
populations, effects of captive breeding on the species' natural
habitats and wild populations, and any other factors from captive
breeding that might affect wild populations or natural habitat;
(3) Information on the adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms;
trends in domestic and international trade of live specimens, sport-
hunted trophies, or other parts and products; poaching of wild wood
bison; illegal trade and enforcement efforts and solutions; and
oversight of reintroduction or introduction programs;
(4) Information on the effects of other potential threat factors,
including contaminants, changes of the distribution and abundance of
wild populations, disease episodes within wild and captive populations,
large mortality events, climate change, or negative effects resulting
from the presence of invasive species; and
(5) Information on management programs for wood bison conservation
in the wild, including private, tribal, or governmental conservation
programs that benefit wood bison.
We will base our finding on a review of the best scientific and
commercial information available, including all information received
during the public comment period.
You may submit your comments and materials concerning this proposed
rule by one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. We will not
accept comments you send by e-mail or fax.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that we will post your entire comment--including your personal
identifying information--on http://www.regulations.gov. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting
documentation we used in preparing this 90-day finding, will be
available for public inspection on http://www.regulations.gov, or by
appointment, during normal business hours, at the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Division of Scientific Authority (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
Background
We received a petition from the co-chairs of the National Wood
Bison Recovery Team (NWBRT) based at the University of Calgary, Canada,
dated November 26, 2007, requesting that we reclassify the wood bison
(Bison bison athabascae) from endangered to threatened. The petition
contained information about recovery efforts in Canada and referred to
information provided to the United States Division of Scientific
Authority by the NWBRT since 2004 regarding the natural history and
biology of the wood bison, including the species' current status and
distribution.
All wild, disease-free wood bison, 3,382 specimens in 2004, are
found in northwestern Canada (Reynolds et al. 2004, p. 32). They are
distributed among seven managed populations in the Northwest
Territories, the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alberta, and
Manitoba. There are also 15 captive-breeding herds (5 public herds and
10 private herds), with all of the public herds located in northwestern
Canada.
The wood bison differs morphologically from the more common plains
bison (Bison bison bison). The wood bison is larger and heavier within
similar age and sex classes, darker in color with a more squarish hump
than the rounder hump of the plains bison. There is less hair on top of
the head of the wood bison, around the horns and in the beard, which
makes the horns appear longer and the head appear smaller than those of
the plains bison. The long hair on the front legs of plains bison is
short or absent in wood bison, and the cape on the hump, shoulders, and
neck is less distinct (Reynolds et al. 2003, p. 1013).
In contrast to the plains bison, wood bison herds are smaller.
During rut, wood bison herds disperse into even smaller groups with
some bulls temporarily becoming solitary (Reynolds et al. 2003, p.
1021). Whereas plains bison bulls establish dominance hierarchies for
breeding, wood bison bulls establish harems (Reynolds et al. 2003, p.
1021). Wood bison home range size varies with age, sex, and
availability of forage (Reynolds et al. 2003, pp. 1024-25). The
breeding season is from July to October. Bulls between the ages of 6
and 9 years do most of the breeding (Reynolds et al. 2003, p. 1025).
Peak breeding age for cows is between 5 and 14 years of age. Wood bison
forage in open meadows, and rest and ruminate in aspen and coniferous
forests (Government of Canada 1997, p. 2; Reynolds et al. 2003, p.
1037).
History of the Endangered Species Act Listing
The wood bison was listed under the U.S. Endangered Species
Conservation Act of 1969; the listing of which went into effect on June
2, 1970, with the publication of our final rule, Conservation of
endangered species and other fish or wildlife (35 FR 8491). At that
time through the present, the only wild wood bison herds were found in
the boreal wilderness of northwestern Canada (Government of Canada
1997, p. 2). While never numerous, the subspecies, which numbered
approximately 200,000 animals in Canada in 1800, was almost
exterminated by the late 1800s due to overhunting for food and the fur
trade. About 250 specimens survived in the early 1900s and were
protected by the Government of Canada in Wood Buffalo National Park.
The growing herd was jeopardized by the introduction of plains bison,
however, with which the remaining wood bison hybridized. The plains
bison also introduced tuberculosis and brucellosis in wood bison herds.
A total of 200 disease-free bison with wood bison morphological
characteristics were discovered in 1959 in a remote area of Wood Bison
National Park. Between 1963 and 1965, just prior to the Endangered
Species Conservation Act listing, 42 of these specimens were introduced
into the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary, near Fort Providence, in the
Northwest Territories, and into Elk Island National Park in Central
Alberta (Government of Canada 1997, p. 2). These specimens became the
founder stock for the 4,336 disease-free specimens of wood bison
(Reynolds et al. 2004, p. 32).
Because the wood bison was summarily listed under the 1969
Endangered Species Conservation Act, along with many other species,
there was no separate Federal Register final rule for its listing. On
June 2, 1970, the wood bison first appeared on the list of foreign
species (Appendix A) in our final rule, Conservation of endangered
species and other fish or wildlife (35 FR 8491). According to this
rule, the taxa included in Appendix A of that document were considered
as endangered throughout their range. It was likely that the total
subspecies population of about 200 specimens contributed to the listing
decision. Appendix A indicated Canada as the sole range country (in the
``Where Found'' column), with the explanation
[[Page 5910]]
that the range information ``is a general guide to the native countries
or regions where the named animals are found. It is not intended to be
definitive.''
In 1979, the listing status of wood bison within the United States
was reviewed due to a potential failure to comply with a procedural
requirement of the 1969 Act (i.e., consulting with the governor of any
state in which the species was found) (44 FR 43705; July 25, 1979). On
July 25, 1980, the Service published a proposed rule discussing the
earlier procedural error, but did not propose changes to the listing
status of wood bison as we had determined that no pure bred individuals
of the subspecies were known to occur in the United States (45 FR
49844).
Other Wood Bison Listings
The wood bison was placed in Appendix I of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) on July 1, 1975, when the treaty went into effect (42 FR 10462;
February 22, 1979). On September 28, 1997, the wood bison was
downlisted to Appendix II based on a proposal from Canada that
described progress in implementation of the Canadian recovery plan
(Government of Canada, 1997; 62 FR 44627; August 22, 1997). The United
States voted in support of the downlisting. Listing in CITES Appendix
II allows for regulated commercial trade as long as certain findings
are made, whereas a listing in Appendix I generally prohibits
commercial trade. The wood bison is also listed as a threatened species
under Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA), which went into effect on
June 1, 2004. The 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (http://
www.iucnredlist.org/) classifies the American bison (Bison bison) as
``lower risk-conservation dependent.'' Subspecies, such as the plains
bison and wood bison, are not evaluated separately from the species on
the IUCN list.
The NWBRT petition is the second petition that we have received
regarding the wood bison. On May 14, 1998, the Service received a
petition from a private individual requesting that we remove the wood
bison from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, primarily
because it had just been downlisted under CITES. In a 90-day finding
published on November 25, 1998 (63 FR 65164), we found that the
petitioner did not supply substantial information to indicate that the
delisting was warranted.
The NWBRT, with this petition, requests reclassification of the
wood bison from endangered to threatened because--according to their
petition--populations are healthy, habitat remains plentiful, and
recovery and management plans are being implemented. With this action,
we find that the NWBRT petition presents substantial scientific
evidence and commercial information indicating that reclassification
from an endangered species to a threatened species may be warranted.
Finding
On the basis of the information provided in the petition or
contained in Service files, we have determined that the petition
presents substantial scientific and commercial information indicating
that reclassifying the wood bison from endangered to threatened may be
warranted. Therefore, we are initiating a status review to determine if
reclassification of the subspecies is warranted. To ensure that the
status review is comprehensive, the Service is soliciting scientific
and commercial information regarding this subspecies.
References Cited
Government of Canada. 1997. Prop. 10.35. Proposal for the transfer of
wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) from Appendix I to Appendix II of
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Tenth
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties held in Harare, Zimbabwe, 9-20
June, 1997. 2 pp.
Reynolds, H.W., C.C. Gates, and R.D. Glaholt. 2003. Bison (Bison
bison). In: G.A. Feldhamer, B.C. Thompson, and J.A. Chapman (eds.),
Wild Mammals of North America. Biology, Management, and Conservation.
2nd Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Pp. 1009-
1060.
Reynolds, H., C. Gates, J. Nishi, T. Jung, H. Schwantje, and B.
Stephenson. 2004. Draft background on wood bison recovery efforts and
legal status in Canada. Submitted to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
August 2004. 32pp.
Author
The primary author of this document is Jeffrey P. Jorgenson, Ph.D.,
Division of Scientific Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see
ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: January 14, 2009.
Kenneth Stansell,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E9-2084 Filed 2-2-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P